Cal Poly Baseball dropped two of three games in a series against CSU Northridge from Friday, April 21 through Sunday, April 23 at Matador Field.
The Mustangs (14-23, 8-10 Big West) have now lost back-to-back series while the Matadors (23-11, 10-5 Big West) have won their last three conference sets.
Friday
Cal Poly fell in the late innings of Friday’s game against CSUN, 12-10, as they gave up seven runs in the eighth inning.
Junior righty Bryce Warrecker drew the start and was roughed up a bit in a game where he allowed five runs over 6 ⅓ innings pitched while tacking on three strikeouts.
After a scoreless first inning, the Mustangs got on the board first as senior infielder Taison Corio smashed a two-run home run over the left-field fence to take a 2-0 lead early.
The Matadors quickly responded in their half of the second by scoring two runs on an RBI triple and a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2.
Cal Poly took the lead right back in the third inning on an RBI single from sophomore catcher Ryan Stafford to bring the score to 3-2.
CSUN continued the back and forth in their half of the third after another sacrifice fly tied the game once again at 3-3.
The Mustangs once again took the lead back in the fourth on a two-run home run by freshman outfielder Wyatt King to take a 5-3 lead.
With runners on the corners in the fifth, the Green and Gold seemed to break the game open with a five-run inning courtesy of an errant throw, an RBI single from junior shortstop Aaron Casillas and a three-run home run by Corio, his second of the day, to extend the lead to 10-3.
However, CSUN continued to fight in their half of the fifth after a two-run home run knocked Warrecker out of the game and cut the Cal Poly lead down to 10-5.
After the next few scoreless innings, the Matador offense exploded and put up seven runs in the eighth inning capped off by a grand slam to snatch the lead away from the Mustangs and bring the score to 12-10.
CSUN brought its closer in for the ninth and he shut the door on the way to the 12-10 comeback win.
Saturday
Cal Poly suffered its second consecutive loss in the late innings on Saturday night to CSUN by a score of 10-6.
Sophomore right Steven Brooks was on the mound for the Mustangs and despite the loss, he was stellar, throwing six innings of one-run ball while striking out six.
After a scoreless first, Cal Poly struck on a two-run home run from redshirt sophomore second baseman Kemet Brown, followed up by an RBI single from Stafford to take an early 3-0 lead.
It wasn’t until the fifth inning that the Matadors would get on the board with a solo homer blasted over the left field fence to cut the Mustang advantage down to 3-1.
Following a scoreless sixth, the CSUN bats got hot as they took a 4-3 lead on a two-run home run and a sac bunt to bring in another run.
The Green and Gold wouldn’t go down so easily, as senior left fielder Collin Villegas sent a solo homer over the left field wall to tie the game in the eighth at four apiece.
Things started to unravel from there for the Mustangs as the Matadors put up a six-run eighth inning courtesy of a three-run homer, a wild pitch and a two-RBI triple to cap off the rally.
Cal Poly continued to fight in the ninth after junior first baseman Joe Yorke slapped a two-RBI single into left field to cut the lead down to 10-6, but it was too little too late as the Mustangs dropped the game 10-6.
Sunday
The Mustangs avoided the sweep in Sunday’s getaway game with a 4-2 win.
Cal Poly looked threatening in the top of the second with runners on first and second and no outs, but a flyout and a lineout that turned into a double play ended any momentum.
Northridge struck first in the bottom half of the frame after a double into left-center scored the opening run.
The Matadors also found success in the third inning, when an errant pickoff throw put a runner on third and a bunt drove him home to make it 2-0 Northridge.
Cal Poly found an answer in the top of the fourth, as Stafford homered to left field to cut the lead in half.
Northridge once again looked to bunt in a run in the fourth, but redshirt freshman reliever Ryan Baum scooped it up and got the runner at home to keep it a 2-1 game.
The sixth saw a Matadors error put runners on the corners with no one out. Stafford then bounced into the double play, but the run scored from third to tie the game up at 2-2.
In the next inning, Villegas put the second pitch he saw into the left-field seats for the go-ahead home run.
The Mustangs added some insurance in the ninth as Casillas singled into left field and scored Stafford to make it 4-2.
Redshirt freshman reliever Tanner Sagouspe came on in the bottom of the ninth and locked the Matadors down.
Sagouspe picked up his first career save while Baum grabbed the win to bring his record to 3-3. The bullpen threw 6 ⅔ innings of scoreless relief.
Cal Poly will return to action against Santa Clara on Tuesday, April 25 at 4 p.m. at Stephen Schott Baseball Stadium.